


City of Angels

by love_killed_the_superstar



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, set some time after maria ross's "torching"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 16:07:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2394587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why didn’t you say anything?"<br/>It was almost eleven but Roy Mustang had no intention of leaving his office until he got all of the answers he needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	City of Angels

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic dabble in the FMA fandom since... 2010?? Jeez. And this is what I come up with. I'm a terrible person. (I've been working on this since around May time so wow, a long time spent on such a short piece.)
> 
> I was listening to Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls while writing this, because it felt like the kind of desperate song I needed for the painful elements to flow. City of Angels is the film that the song was written for, hence the title of this fic, and... I don't know, I think it's a pretty cool title.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

It was almost eleven but Roy Mustang had no intention of leaving his office until he got all of the answers he needed.

Roy eyed Edward from across the desk, trying to figure out what was going on inside the boy’s mind. Ed stared at the floor, expression unreadable. The two had been going in circles for hours - each time Roy had tried a different tactic to get through to the child sat across from him, but nothing was working. When Ed stayed silent he tried again.

“Were you being blackmailed, threatened? We could’ve taken control of the situation sooner if you’d told me or someone else, this could’ve been sorted out much sooner if you’d have just told someone-”

No response. Instead of yelling as he normally would have by now, he focused on what Ed was looking at so intently and his gaze fell into Ed’s hands (his gloves missing since the medical examination), which were resting on both knees and shaking ever so slightly. The fingernails on the flesh hand were chewed and rimmed with raw pink flesh from the constant biting. Not that he could blame Fullmetal in a situation like this.

It was unfortunate to say that it was uncommon but not entirely unheard of in Central, and Ed had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time when the incident first occurred, but that didn’t change the fact that the teen must have undergone a very traumatic experience. He knew better than to charge in with the questions and was doing his best to handle Edward carefully, but nothing had changed since he’d sat him down for questioning two hours ago except for the hands on the clock, and quite frankly his patience was growing thin.

“Please, Fullmetal. If you could just answer some of my questions.”

Edward shook his head silently, hands curling up into shaking fists. His face was pale, his lips quivering.

Roy slammed his hand down on the desk, causing the younger alchemist to flinch.

“Damn it, Ed! Talk to me! We’re trying to help you out here!” The boy said nothing, but his whole body was beginning to shake. Knowing it was a mistake to have yelled, Roy quietened down and mopped his brow tiredly. It had been a long day, and he wanted more than anything to retire to his bed and sleep off the troubling investigation that had come with the unveiling of the relationship between Edward and one of his superiors behind closed doors - if he could even call it that. But he knew that he needed to unload this information from Edward’s mind as soon as possible, if not for his gain than for the sake of the boy sat across from him.

Fullmetal looked like crap. He’d always been a scrawny one but today he looked frailer than ever, his eyes sunken and anxious, his left eye having bloomed a rich purple colour in light of very recent events. Picturing the numerous bruises, varying in age, covering the skin beneath Ed’s red coat made him feel sick to his stomach.

That said, the man responsible hadn’t looked much better recently, sporting his own fair share of scratches and bite marks. It disturbed Roy a little that he’d spotted a mark on his hand and even commented on it as the man had passed him in the corridor; it had been passed off as a bite from his dog and even Roy thought it a bit unusual. He found himself asking, certainly not for the first time that night, how he could’ve been so stupid.

How could he have missed such obvious signs? Fullmetal hadn’t been himself for weeks. He knew the boy looked more sullen and had become increasingly aggressive, but he figured it was a teenager thing, something that would come and go quickly. When he’d commented on it the first time the changes in the alchemist had become apparent he’d received a snappy reply, so figured that nothing was the matter and Edward was being his usual bratty self.

How could he not have noticed?

Then again, he’d hardly seen the two interacting at all. They’d passed each other once in a corridor, and the man had made a quiet remark to which Edward had spat back something vulgar in response, but he’d hardly seen them run into each other since. It was only natural that he’d be unable to connect the dots until everything was sickeningly clear, but it didn’t make him feel any better about the situation in the slightest.

“Edward, please talk to me,” he said, at the end of his wits. “I need you to say something…”

Edward’s eyes remained focused on his hands.

Roy couldn’t fathom what had gone on behind the scenes without Ed’s word to confirm, but from the way he was behaving he knew it was bad. It sickened him to think of what the boy had been put through, whether he had provoked his attacker or not.

Then, something stirred in the blonde sat opposite him.

“I can’t tell you anything.”

Roy’s eyes snapped up at Ed’s voice. He’d finally gotten him to talk. While that wasn’t promising anything, it was definitely a start.

“And why can’t you tell me, Fullmetal?” he prompted. The boy clasped his hands together, letting out a shaking breath.

When no answer came, Roy tried again. “Talk to me, Ed. Why can’t you tell me?”

“…Because it’s disgusting…”

Seeing the normally brash Fullmetal so broken down was painful for Roy. He swallowed. “I don’t care. I need you to tell me.”

He knew he wasn’t being tactful enough. If it were any other state alchemist on the receiving end of this kind of abuse he would send in a counsellor to talk properly with them, but he knew Ed’s personality well enough by now. Even after the emotionally draining ordeal he had been put through when being taken from the scene of the attack and medically examined, he knew that it would be impossible to get answers out of Fullmetal if it were anybody else asking them.

“I can’t,” Ed bleated, knuckles white and taut with the building pressure in his clenched fists.

“You have to-”

“Didn’t you hear me? It’s disgusting!” The fighting instinct was beginning to return to the boy, but Roy needed Ed to compromise with him a little.

“And I told you that I don’t care. I don’t care how disgusting it is, I need to know.”

“Why? Why the hell do you need to know? It doesn’t change anything!”

Involuntary tears filled his eyes.

“Yes, it does. We can’t hold much against him in court without as much information as you can give us. I can’t imagine how you must be feeling and I really don’t want to do this, Ed, but I know I’m the only one you’ll talk to right now.”

He reached out towards Ed only to be slapped away.

“Don’t touch me.” Ed’s voice was venomous. “You already know what happened, don’t you? Why the fuck do you need to take that bastard to court? Why can’t you just do what you did to Lieutenant Ross and burn that bastard’s body until there’s nothing left but god damn ashes?”

Edward was hurting, Roy knew that, but they weren’t getting anywhere. Even now that Ed was talking he wasn’t getting any answers. Roy wasn’t sure if Edward was deliberately trying to pick a fight by bringing up the incident regarding 2 nd Lieutenant Maria Ross, but he wasn’t about to satisfy Ed by changing the topic.

“Because that wouldn’t be getting revenge. He wouldn’t have to live with the serious offence he has committed. That’s the same as letting him win, Ed.”

“I don’t care,” Edward said bitterly, “I just want him to rot in hell.”

Spoken as a true child.

“Then,” Roy resigned, “regardless, you can’t leave this room until you answer the questions, and that’s state law, not a personal preference.”

“Don’t bullshit me,” Ed glowered, “acting like it’s so important to you. Why do you care? Why not just pull a report out of your ass and be done with it?”

“BECAUSE I _DO_ CARE, EDWARD, AND I’M AMAZED THAT YOU’D THINK FOR A SECOND THAT I DIDN’T! IF ONE OF MY MEN HAS BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTED THEN I CARE A GREAT DEAL, ED! IT’S INSULTING THAT YOU’D EVEN THINK SUCH A THING!”

After that outburst he stood up, rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. Edward sat, body hunched over, shutting down once more. Silence hung heavily in the air as Roy considered using his flame alchemy to char himself so he’d be done with this. He knew right from the start that trying to confront the younger alchemist on this subject would be like Ishbal all over again, but he hadn’t expected them to make such little progress in this time. He had a long night ahead of him if Fullmetal was choosing not to answer.

With a loud sigh, Roy stared out of the window. The sky was pitch black, the tiny lights in the distance the only indication that they hadn’t been plunged into the deepest bowels of the ocean. With his luck he’d end up falling asleep standing before Edward decided to open up to him.

“Do you know what it’s like?”

The small voice caught him off guard and he turned to watch as the small blond boy in the chair shifted slightly, refusing to face him.

“Do I know what _what_ ’s like, Fullmetal?”

“Being so repulsed by something with every fibre of your being but being forced to participate anyway.” He pulled up his knees, resting his chin on them. “I don’t want to tell anyone about it. I just want everyone to forget it even happened. Why do I have to answer these questions?” Edward fell silent for a few moments, before adding, “I’m tired. I’m tired and I have nothing to tell you. It may be state law to keep me here, but isn’t it against my rights as a human being to be confined like this?”

Roy fought the urge to squeeze the boy’s shoulder lest he lashed out again, so sighed heavily and retreated back to his desk.

“For one thing, the Human Rights Act dictates that I’m allowed to keep you up to 36 hours before releasing you.” When he received no sly remark back, he sighed again. “Listen. I find it impossible to try and imagine what you’ve gone through. I have no place to say anything about your situation. Hell, even I think it’s personal, but you have to talk to me about it. I doubt you’ll talk to anyone else. Unless… you want me to get Alphonse?”

Ed’s head snapped up and he stared at Roy, horrified.

“No,” he cried pleadingly, shaking his head. “No, you can’t tell Al about this.”

“He’ll find out sooner or later, Fullmetal.”

“No. If anyone tells him about this, I’ll kill them.” He glared at Roy with the most ferocious look his superior officer had ever seen him muster.

“Ed, why don’t you want Alphonse to know?” Roy asked gently, leaning forward slightly. Ed shrunk back, scrubbing at his eyes with his hands. As his sleeves slipped down slightly with the movement Roy caught a glimpse of fingertip-shaped bruises and swallowed.

“Because it’s so disgusting.” Ed continued to glare at his hands, visibly shaking all over. “I don’t ever want him to know about it. It’s… it’s embarrassing, okay? Are you satisfied now? I’m ashamed! I’m disgusting and it might not seem like a big deal to you, but I-”

“Now hold on a moment, Edward.” Roy held up a hand to silence the boy. “For one thing, don’t say it’s not a big deal. Sexual assault is a very big deal. Don’t devalue yourself because of this.” He struggled to get the next few words out. “And also - also, I know you probably won’t listen to me, but you have no reason to feel ashamed, Ed. You’re not in the wrong here. Everyone knows that you weren’t at fault.”

“I provoked him,” Edward said dully, blinking furiously against the tears that were building up again. “I could’ve run away but I answered him back. I’m stupid, I let myself rile him up with stupid insults and I punched and kicked him and I even… I even tried to use my automail blade on him but-”

As his voice cracked he shut his mouth tightly, hiding his face in his hands.

“I was so stupid…”

Roy shook his head angrily, trying to stop himself from shaking too. “Now you listen to me, Edward, and listen well. You may have said silly things and it’s not impossible to believe that your insults provoked him, but that doesn’t mean that assault of any kind is okay. No one asks for something like this, and you can’t be blamed for the things he did to you…” He buried his head in his hands also, eyes stinging. “God, Edward, why didn’t you just tell someone? Why couldn’t you tell me? If I knew any of this was going on I would’ve put an end to it immediately!”

“For the same reason I couldn’t tell Al! I’m disgusting, Colonel Bastard! And…” Ed stopped for a few moments to collect his thoughts, before saying, quieter this time, “The first time it happened… I was so alarmed I used alchemy to push him away, without thinking, and - and he saw it. That I don’t use transmutation circles. He threatened to make it public that I’d committed human transmutation if I told anyone. If I lose my job, how am I supposed to search for the philosopher’s stone? How am I meant to get Al’s body back with no access to restricted books and military-paid trips? Without this title I’m nothing. I can’t do that… and…” He swallowed thickly. “And even if I wasn’t under his blackmail, how could I ever tell anyone about this? It’s so dirty.”

Roy shook his head again, now furious. “Your information is strictly confidential, Fullmetal. The military has made special circumstances regarding your situation and we’ll do all in our power to ensure nothing is leaked to any newspapers or soldiers. But Ed… you don’t need to be ashamed of this. You never prompted the bastard to hurt you in that way, did you?”

“No.” Ed pulled his hands away from his face, which was now red and slightly blotchy. “But when he was doing it… I…” He swallowed again, running his fingers through his hair, before beginning to cry again, no longer caring to hide it. “When he was doing it, I came… it was disgusting but I still came… so…”

Roy stood up and made his way to where Edward was sitting, trembling all over in a mixture of anger and humiliation as he continued to cry. He knelt beside him put his hands on Ed’s shoulders, only vaguely acknowledging that Ed was too upset to bother pushing him away, and forced the boy to look at him.

“Listen, Edward. I’ll say this as many times as I need to for you to believe it: an orgasm is an entirely physiological reaction. You didn’t do it on purpose. Having done that doesn’t make you at fault and it doesn’t make you in any way disgusting. Please don’t think that you were to blame…”

Ed leaned forward so his head tucked under Roy’s chin and began to sob.

“Don’t tell Al,” he begged, voice trembling as he cried. “Please don’t tell Al about this. It would break his heart…”

“Something like this is enough to break anyone’s heart, Ed,” Roy said shakily, pulling the younger boy into a hug. Neither of them were known to be the hugging type but they were both beyond the point of caring by now.

“Don’t go back to the dorms tonight, Ed,” Roy said quietly. “You’ve been through enough as it is without the interrogation of everyone else. I’ll have to ask you more about the surrounding events tomorrow. I think we’re both at our limit.”

As if on cue, the phone on his desk began to ring. As he held it to his ear a slightly metallic voice spoke up.

“Colonel, I know I shouldn’t be calling but it’s incredibly late. Brother must be tired by now and… you’ve been questioning him for hours. Surely you’re finished now?”

The soldiers who had witnessed the attack had sworn to secrecy, and all that Alphonse had been told was that Edward had been taken in for questioning regarding suspicious activity. Roy sighed tiredly.

“Yes, we’re finishing up. But Fullmetal’s spending the night at my place, Alphonse. It’s been a very tiring evening, and he’s gotten a little worked up.”

“Worked up? Is Brother okay?” Al asked, worry tingeing his voice.

“No, not really. But he will be soon, I hope.”

After exchanging a few more words, Roy hung up and helped Edward to his feet.

“We’re going now, Edward. Are you ready?”

Edward nodded, rubbing at his eyes vigorously.

“Yeah… lets go…”

Fullmetal wouldn't be okay tonight. He wouldn't. Chances were he wouldn't be okay for a long time. But as he trudged a few paces behind Roy, sniffing and sobbing still, Roy considered that they had made some progress. Even if it was far from over, he had gotten through to Ed. He knew he wasn't alone anymore. And that was what counted.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, such a shitty ending! But I was sick of seeing this sitting around unfinished, so I wanted to upload it.
> 
> I have never been in a situation like this so I can't even begin to understand it. I tried to make it seem fairly realistic but since I have never been through this, I can't know for sure. I hope my piece doesn't offend anybody.


End file.
